3 in 3 for 11-7-2025

By: Steve Huston

This week’s Decency Minutes involve touchy subjects that have an affect on all of us either directly or indirectly. It’s likely that many of our readers (and perhaps our staff) may have varied and differing opinions regarding government assistance and the assistance from artificial intelligence which more and more Americans have come to rely on. As our second Decency Minute so aptly describes, the assistance that was meant to be a safety net for Americans has become a hammock; when the government’s tactics moved from a “hand up” to a “handout,” the “hammock” grew wider and what was meant as brotherly kindness was thrown off for the bonds of generational oppression of the poor – which the Bible warns against. This has negatively and grossly impacted our nation in ways which exceed economics – church influence, family cohesion, and views of God, fellowman, and ourselves to name but a few.

As our first Decency Minute suggests, “In these difficult times, the church has an opportunity to show the love of Christ to those who are in need.” Even in this, it will be a difficult road to travel and should be treated with care; the church is not the government and its manner of meeting needs should differ from what we’ve witnessed over the last many decades and that which people have grown to expect. The church and Christian ministries should take great effort in developing a Biblically-based model when showing their compassion to meet the societal needs which surround us. As Christians, churches, and ministries come alongside those in need, let’s be sure to remember what may be arguably at the foundation of these governmental troubles. Politics and economics without the foundation of religion will not make a people or nation great; it eventually brings that nation to ruin. America’s founders were well aware of their dependence upon God for all things – including the success of any government and a nation’s economics – and spoke often to that end. Whatever Biblically-based model is used should include the fact that we help others because we love God and our fellowman through Jesus Christ and that Jesus is showing His love to them through us. Also, that there is a greater need that each of us has beyond our temporal ones: The condition of our soul – that Christ is the only One who enables us to worship God in spirit and in truth; He alone can make us ready for a Heaven, saving us from eternal damnation.

Our third Decency Minute reminds us that artificial intelligence is, at best, a tool. Yet, there are many who get ensnared in its web, finding only pseudo comfort, companionship, or counsel. Many may find it a safety net for educational or other purposes, only to eventually find that they’ve turned it into a hammock which has rocked them to sleep, becoming completely unaware of its dangers. Like governmental assistance, it affects church influence, family cohesion, how we view the world around us, and a host of other and yet to be determined factors.

This is not to say that assistance from organizations or artificial intelligence is evil, but we must we aware of the pitfalls that accompany them. We must be ever Biblically vigilant, refusing the natural inclination of being rocked to sleep in its hammock of comfort and ease.

 

Showing Christ’s Love in Hard Times

Up till now, most of us probably haven’t really noticed the government shut down.

This just goes to show how wasteful much of our federal spending is.

But now that Democrats’ refusal to fund the government has begun to affect those of us and our neighbors who depend on it for necessities, the realization is going to feel a lot sharper.

In these difficult times, the church has an opportunity to show the love of Christ to those who are in need.

“By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples,” John 13:35 says, “if you love one another.”

There are community organizations and church ministries we can use to help our neighbors or turn to ourselves in times of need.

Look for church outreach programs or organizations like Love in the Name of Christ to make helping our neighbors not just community service, but Christian ministry.

 

The Safety Net Has Become a Hammock

During the government shutdown, the focus upon SNAP benefits – what used to be called food stamps –revealed what happens when the Church shirks its responsibility to care for those who are truly poor and instead allows the government to usurp that duty. 

The result has been a massive welfare program, rife with fraud, upon which a whopping 42 million Americans have become dependent.  It’s telling that the number one item bought with food stamps is soft drinks.

When tens of millions look to the government to buy their food, it creates generational poverty and a mindset that government is our caretaker. 

What once was a safety net, has become a hammock – as able-bodied adults feed at the tax-payers’ trough.  Our nation has abandoned the Biblical principle, from Second Thessalonians, which states: “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” 

 

The Law Should Not Treat AI Like Humans

Since people are increasingly treating Artificial intelligence as a friend, pastor, counsellor, or future spouse, Ohio Representative Claggett has proposed a law that would “make it illegal for AI systems to be treated like people.”

In differentiating between person and program, some of the things this bill prevents AI from doing is “own property, manage bank accounts or serve as company executives. They would not have the same rights or responsibilities as people. The bill also makes any marriage between a human and an AI, or between two AI systems, legally impossible.” 

This proposed legislation would also hold the human owners or developers responsible for the harm AI causes. No more shirking the blame, “responsibility stays with the humans who built, trained or used the system.”

God created man and gave him dominion; the creations of man are simply tools.

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